South Korea’s Favorability Rating Reaches 82.3%—Which Country Likes Korea Most

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The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST, Minister CHAE Hwi-young) announced the results of the "2025 Survey on Korea's National Image," conducted from October 1 to 31, 2025, across 26 countries with a total of 13,000 respondents. The results showed that 82.3% of respondents hold a favorable view of South Korea, marking a 3.3%p increase from the previous year and the highest[1]since the survey was first launched in 2018.

UAE ranks Highest; Thailand and UK show the Largest Gains

Looking at favorability toward Korea by country, the highest is the United Arab Emirates (UAE, 94.8%), followed by Egypt (94.0%), the Philippines (91.4%), Türkiye (90.2%), India (89.0%), and South Africa (88.8%). In particular, the strong favorability in Middle Eastern and African countries suggests that positive diplomatic relations have been established amid recent active exchanges between the Korean government and countries in the Middle East and Africa.

In the cases of Thailand and the United Kingdom, favorability toward Korea increased significantly year on year (YoY) by 9.4%p (from 76.8% to 86.2%) and 9.2%p (from 78.2% to 87.4%), respectively. Notably, Thailand has overcome the previous year's temporary dip[2]in favorability and is now on track to recovery. The United Kingdom not only recorded above-average favorability for the first time since the survey began, but it is also the only European country to do so.

Favorability toward Korea from China and Japan stands at 62.8% and 42.2%, respectively, which is relatively low compared to other countries, but these figures represent YoY increases of 3.6%p and 5.4%p, respectively, indicating positive changes in perception. Japan's case[3] is particularly significant in that it recorded the highest favorability since the survey began.

Cultural content Emerges as the Key Driver of Favorability;

Video Platforms and Social Media Drive Global Engagement

Cultural content (45.2%) was identified as the most influential factor shaping Korea's overall favorability abroad. This shows that various pieces of cultural content, such as K-pop, dramas, and films, expand Korea's cultural influence and contribute to enhancing the national image. Countries within the Asia/Pacific region, including the Philippines (69.3%), Japan (64.4%), Indonesia (59.5%), and Vietnam (58.4%), showed particularly strong influence from cultural content.

Other contributing factors that positively influenced favorability toward Korea included modern lifestyle (31.9%), products and brands (28.7%), and economic development (21.2%). In particular, in the Middle East and Africa region, economic factors such as products and brands and economic development played a significant role in boosting Korea's image, alongside cultural elements.

The primary channels through which respondents engaged with Korea were video platforms (64.4%), social media (56.6%), websites (46.7%), and broadcast media (32.8%). Among video platforms, YouTube (77.4%), Netflix (65.1%), and Amazon Prime (27.8%) were the most widely used. On social media, Instagram (63.7%), TikTok (56.2%), and Facebook (53.6%) ranked highest.

The full 2025 Survey on Korea's National Image Report is available on the MCST website.